Rebuilding: One Brick at a Time
by Geeky13
Summary: After the battle, this is what i think should happen to the Buffy characters. BA, possible other. Rated a K now, that may change.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is my first Buffy fic, so please review! I would love ot hear what you think, and where I can improve. The Angel part of the story is basically the same, but Angel stopped Connor from blowing himself, Cordy, and the other people up. He came out of the experience a better person. Angel took the amulet from Wolram and Hart, but didn't agree to become CEO. He just took it and ran. If i get enough reviews, I'll write mire, but I want to know that people are interested. Enjoy!

Buffy hesitated as she raised her hand to the door, about to knock. Did she really want to be doing this? Then she looked back over her shoulder into the night at the cluster of slayers behind her, and she knew what she had to do. She had to put her personal problems away, and think of the girls.

They had just come from Sunnydale, after the devastating battle with the first and his vampires. She was now standing on the front steps of the Hyperion Hotel, where she had asked Angel to have medical care ready for the Sunnydale troops.

Before she managed to knock, the door swung open, and Angel stepped out. "Buffy." That was all he managed to say at first. After a moment he regained the ability to speak. He called back over his shoulder into the hotel, "Guys, time for action! You guys know what to do!"

Connor, Wesley, Fred and Gunn came rushing out of the house, only to find that no one was seriously injured. Connor looked for a moment, then spoke. "You mean to tell me that you fought the ultimate battle, and you have no serious injuries? From what I've heard, you've done it before, but usually someone has to die, have an emotional breakdown, or both. You aren't having an emotional breakdown, are you, anyone?"

Buffy seemed to be in a trance, so Giles answered for her. "So far as we know, everyone is emotionally safe. Anya died, though."

Wesley's head snapped up when he heard that Anya was dead. He hadn't known her well, or for very long, but it still stung. Angel's head probably would have snapped up too, except he was staring at Buffy. After a moment, he walked over to her, put his arm around her waist, and led her into the hotel. Wesley took his cue, and began to speak. "We set up some rooms for you guys on the first floor. We'll show you where they are know."

To tired to speak, Giles, Willow, Xander, Dawn, Faith, Robin, Andrew, and all of the Slayers followed. Wesley showed them to their rooms, everyone had a room, but Kennedy and Willow opted to share a room. They all fell asleep immediately, after all, they had fought a major battle that day!

Angel, meanwhile, had led Buffy to his room. He had been about to pass it and put her in a separate room, but she had said not to. When they entered his room, Buffy merely kicked off her shoes, lay down on the bed, and asked Angel to, "Just hold me tonight?"

Angel answered, "Tonight and always."

Buffy was however already asleep, and she didn't hear him speak. She slept fitfully, and Angel stayed awake all night watching her. He knew that something was wrong with Buffy, but he couldn't put his finger on what. So he held her, and comforted her when she woke, terrified, from a nightmare.

Buffy woke from a sound sleep when she felt something move next to her. Where was she? What had happened? When she felt the cool, solid form next to her, she remembered. When she had seen Angel, her mind knew that she was safe, and the after effects of the spell had hit. She had seen all of the Slayers through history dying. She had seen Kendra, herself twice, and many, many more horrible deaths.

The whole time, Angel had held her, comforted her. As she relived the deaths, he was by her side. She very much doubted that she could have made it through the trying ordeal without him. Even with Angel at her side, it had been an exhausting night, and she turned over, burying her face in Angel's chest, and fell asleep again.

Angel felt her stir, and awoke. By the time that he had opened his eyes, Buffy was fast asleep again. He lay awake for a while, watching his beautiful slayer sleep. She was sleeping peacefully now, he could tell from the way her muscles weren't clenched anymore.

Later, there was a quiet knock at the door. He lifted his body gently off the bed, so he wouldn't wake Buffy, and padded softly across the room. He opened the door, and winced when it creaked. He obviously didn't want Buffy to wake up, and he didn't know that she had woken the moment he had gotten up.

At the door, Willow stood, looking slightly guilty. She greeted him quietly. "Hi. How is she?"

"She's fine now, she didn't sleep well though. She was tossing and turning. I think she was having nightmares."

"Yeah, she would have. I got them to, but not as bad as she would have."

"Why?"

"Because of the spell. When I released Buffy's power into all of the slayers, the nightmares where the last wall of the watchers. I got them as soon as I preformed the spell, but mine was like a fast forwarded movie. It was meant to stop me from finishing the spell. I had a wall up though, and it should have stayed up, but the power it took to finish the spell used up pretty much every drop of energy I had. So down came the wall."

"Why didn't Buffy get them right away then?"

"Nobody except me and Giles know, but Slayers have a sort of wall. Stuff like that can only get in if they feel like they are safe. So as soon as she saw you, she knew that nothing was going to harm her for a while, not physically anyway, and the wall came down."

"Wow."

"I second that thought. Why didn't you tell me, Willow?"

"You're awake!"

"Well, I'm usually awake when I'm talking Angel. Why, Willow?"

"I didn't want to distract you from what you had to do. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. If you had told me, I don't know if I could have gone through with the spell. And the spell had to be done. Without it, we couldn't have defeated the first, and his army."

Ending with this somber note, Buffy promptly shut the door of Angel's room. Angel felt sure that she was shutting the door for a reason, and he trusted her, so he headed toward the kitchen.

When he walked into the kitchen, he was greeted with a hello from the Sunnydale gang, and a half heartedly raised stake from the LA gang. They where all sitting around the kitchen, and every surface was covered with either food or Slayers. Andrew was standing next the stove, feeding food onto the ever emptying plates as fast as he could.

"I'd forgotten how much slayers eat." That was the only comment he made. When Giles looked at him inquiringly, he simply said, "She'll be okay. I think that she's getting cleaned up now. And guys, what's with the stakes?"

"We're just being safe. You two spent the entire night alone up there. For all we knew, you could be Angelus."

"Connor. Did you see the state she was in last night? She was barely conscious."

"Well, I didn't really see her."

"See who?"

Buffy walked into the room, and everyone looked up. She was a new person. She was no longer the battle weary person she had been when most of the slayers had known her, nor was she the fearless leader that they had come to find that she was. For the first time in years, she looked like she might actually be happy, really and truly. She had obviously just gotten out of the shower, as her hair was wet. She was wearing a pair of sweat pants that Fred had picked up before the slayers had arrived with the logic that if they were coming from an epic battle, they probably were going to need clothes. It was a good thing that she had thought of that too, because that slayers hadn't had time to salvage anything form Sunnydale. She was wearing one of Angel's button down top, tied part way up the stomach. Her face looked younger, it wasn't without worry, but the worry wasn't as prominent as usual.

"Is that breakfast that I smell?"

She sat down on Angel's lap, and started wolfing down a huge plate of food as only a slayer can. As she ate, Willow slipped quietly into the room, and whispered something in the ear of Angel, Giles, Dawn, Xander, and Faith. When she spoke to each of them, they assumed a look of shocked pleasure.

"How long have you known?" Angel asked Buffy happily, but with a hint of resentment.

"She just told me"


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I'm so sorry it took me so long to update, but I think that I have another chapter coming soon. Please review and tell me what you think, good or bad. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter!

Buffy ran her fingers through her hair, and surveyed the group of people assembled before her. Everyone was gathered in the lobby, watching her. " I know that you are all still reeling from the battle with the first. I know that you are all still scared. I know that you are lost. I understand. I don't know any more than you do. The truth is, we don't have time to be scared, or lost. All over the world, slayers have been awakened. They are lost, and don't have anyone to turn to. We have to help them. And whether we like it or not, the undead will keep coming, they won't be giving us a week off just because we won a battle.

Yesterday, I talked with Giles, Angel, Xander, Willow, Wesley, Robin, and Faith. We have come to a decision that we think will help all of us. I'm not telling you what to do, I just would like your help if you are willing to give it. You have waged a war, a massive war, and now it's time to pick up the pieces.

We think that all the new slayers should be brought together, to learn what they are, and how to do their job. We would appreciate any help that you could give us in finding them, and helping them adjust. I would also appreciate anyone who would like to be posted somewhere in the world, to keep the undead and demonic population in check. We came up with a system that should work, but if anyone has a better idea, please let me know. We thought that we could group you into groups of three, and send you to a certain part of the world.

Angel has kindly agreed to let us transform his hotel into a school. All the new slayers will be brought here to be trained, if they want to be trained, before they are posted to somewhere in the world."

Buffy finished her speech, and the room was silent for a moment. Nobody knew what to say. Most of the slayers had only seen ever seen Buffy in her military general mode. Here she was saying that she wanted their help, if they were willing to give it.

Kennedy slowly stood up, and spoke. "I'll help you in any way that I can, Buffy. You led us to defeat the first, now you can lead me to start creating a better world for slayers."

After Kennedy bravely stood up, more and more slayers pledged their allegiance to Buffy. In the end, everyone had said that they would help Buffy. Giles stood up, and looked at Buffy for permission to speak. She nodded her head with relief, and quickly made her way to where Angle was sitting. Giles mean while walked slowly and deliberately up to the front of the room. "As some of you know, we are extremely short of resources at the moment. Most of the council's documents were destroyed when the council was, well, blown up. I lost several of my books when we were escaping Sunnydale. As we have, even with the books that Angle has given us access to, barely enough books to stock one group, let alone ten. Willow however, has come up with a rather genius idea. I don't fully understand what she plans on doing, so I'll let her explain."

Willow walked nervously to the front, and smiled shakily. "Most of you won't know this, but I used to be, and still am, a huge computer user. We came up with the idea to create a website combining all of the books and documents, so that any of you can access the resources that you need, anywhere in the world. We will keep the master library here at the hotel. Before you ask, every group will be provided with a computer, so you don't have to worry about that. To make sure that you will have internet access, you will be posted in cities or towns, close to place where you need to be."

Willow flashed them a nervous smile, and dashed back into the crowd. For a moment, everyone sat quietly before the room broke out into excited chatter. Buffy heard segments of conversations as she moved among the slayers and "civilians".

"I wonder where I'll be posted?"

"I wonder who I'll be posted with?"

"I hope I can handle being a slayer almost on my own!"

"I hope that I get posted somewhere interesting!"

Giles let the everyone buzz excitedly for a few moments, then spoke. "Right, well I suggest that you get some rest, and enjoy your time together while we work out who will be grouped with who, and where you will be posted."

--

Later that day, in Angel's office

"No, I'm not saying that Kennedy is a bad slayer, or anything, I'm just saying that she should be posted with someone who won't let her tell them what to do."

"Kennedy is a good leader, she'll do well with some weaker willed slayers!"

"Even good leaders make mistakes! I'm living proof of that! Kennedy needs someone who will question her ideas, not just listen to her mindlessly. When someone tries to have ultimate control, in a situation that isn't an absolute emergency, things go wrong!"

Angel, Willow, Xander, Faith, Robin, and Wesley watched as Buffy and Giles fought fiercely. "Umm, guys. What if Kennedy stayed here and taught?"

All the heads in the room looked at Willow, and Faith started nodding. "That's a good idea. She can teach basic moves, then Buffy or I can teach more advanced fighting technics."

"Perfect. As long as we forbid the word maggot, she'll be fine!"

Buffy closed the argument, once and for all.

"I guess that brings us to the question of how the school is going to work." Giles was cleaning his glasses, and glanced around the room. "I was thinking that I might teach basic magics, then let Willow handle the more advanced stuff."

"Are you sure that I'm ready for this?"

"Yes, Will, you are. We all know what you did in Sunnydale, and we all know that you are ready."

"If you think so..."

"Could I help? I could teach tai chi."

"Of course you can help Angel! Are you sure that Angel investigations can do without you, though?"

"I thought about that. Maybe some of the top level Slayers at the school could help out with Angel Investigations, and learn about that aspect of the job."

"Sounds Wonderful. That could be a course." Wesley hadn't said much up to that point, but he spoke now.

The discussion continued, and eventually faded away to friendly banter.

" Well, that was a successful day," Buffy whispered that night as she fell asleep on Angel's shoulder.

--

Willow sat at the table in the room she shared with Kennedy, pouring over spell books. She wanted to find anything she could about surveillance spells.

"Aren't you coming to bed" Kennedy was lying in their bed, pouting.

"Not yet Kennedy."

"If you aren't coming to bed, then I'm going to go train for a while."

When she didn't get a response from Willow, Kennedy got out of bed, pulled on a pair of track pants and a tank top, and left the room. Willow barely looked up from her book when Kennedy left the room.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Here is the next chapter, as promised. **

**The end of the last chapter, in case you forgot it: **

Willow sat at the table in the room she shared with Kennedy, pouring over spell books. She wanted to find anything she could about surveillance spells.

"Aren't you coming to bed" Kennedy was lying in their bed, pouting.

"Not yet Kennedy."

"If you aren't coming to bed, then I'm going to go train for a while."

When she didn't get a response from Willow, Kennedy got out of bed, pulled on a pair of track pants and a tank top, and left the room. Willow barely looked up from her book when Kennedy left the room.

--

Willow stood at the window and stared out at the street below, contemplating everything that had happened over the past few weeks. In fact, she was o caught up in her thoughts that she didn't even recognize what she was looking at for several moments. The familiar blue van hadn't changed in the three years since she had last seen it.

She flew out of her room, down the stairs, and into the familiar arms if her ex-boyfriend Oz. They stood there, holding each other for several minutes before the others came pouring out to see what was happening. They pulled apart awkwardly, and just stood there for a moment until Angel suggested that everyone stepped inside, because people on the street where starting to stare.

Once they where all seated in the lobby, and everyone had been introduced, Angel decided to break the silence. "So where have you been Oz?"

"When I left Sunnydale for the second time, I knew that I had to get away from people until I could be positive that I had my wolf under control. I couldn't risk something like that happening again. And for all I knew, the government had places like the lab where I was held all over the place.

I drove around the country for a few weeks, and I ended up in Canada. I've lived in Yukon Territory for the last three years. I lived in this tiny town that consisted of maybe fifty people. I choose this town because every single person had a shotgun and knew how to use it. I knew that if I got out of control, someone would shoot me before I hurt anyone. I got a job in the store, and I basically ran the store so that the owner could spend more time hunting. I rented the attic of a house, and kept to myself. I spent a lot of time meditating, and really got in touch with the wolf.

At first people were wary of me, after all, why would a Californian choose to live all they way up there? But after a few months, I was accepted into the town. The men would say hello, talk to me. The women would send around food every now and then, and just make sure I was ok. I became a part of the town. The old women liked to gossip about me. They had several theories, including that I was an artist or author of some kind who either wanted a secluded location to work, or a town to base a work in. Others thought that I was a secret agent in hiding. One theory was that I was dealing with a particularly hard break up and needed time to deal. That one was quickly stamped, because it wasn't "dramatic" enough.

A few days ago I decided that I needed to see how far I'd come along, so I thought that I would visit some people who mattered to me, and for whom I had somewhat strong emotions. I drove down, thinking that I would visit Angel before I went to see the Sunnydale crew again. But I see that I wont have to go to Sunnydale to see you guys. What happened?"

"Where along the road did you lose you stoicism?"

"Nevada, I think."

And so the gang launched into the story of the last three years. Buffy, Willow, Xander and Giles told most of the story, with occasional in put from the others. Oz remained silent, listening pensively. "...and then we ended up here, a few days ago."

"Wow."

"Glad to see that your trip hasn't affected your talking habits permanently."

Even as Xander made his comment, Kennedy came up from the basement where she had been sparing with one of the Slayers, Claire. Everyone who had been around long tensed, waiting to see what would happen. Kennedy went to wrap her arms around Willow, who shifted away from her to introduce Kennedy and Claire. "Kennedy, Claire, this is Oz, my ex-boyfriend. Oz, they are Claire and Kennedy, some of the Slayers. Kennedy is my girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you."

"You should feel lucky. He gave you four whole words!"

"Enough with the teasing Oz, Xander!"

"Of course, your supreme Wiccaness!"

"Xander..."

Willow was giving Xander a look that would have made most people run screaming, but Xander having seen several apocalypses, and having helped stop them, had the courage to speak.

"Ok, Ok!"

"Do you want to stay here for a while?" Angel looked at Oz kindly. He perfectly understood the feeling Oz was probably having, seeing Willow with someone else. He could clearly remember when he had seen Riley and Buffy together. "We have plenty of room and a need for extra help."

"That would be great."

Buffy and Willow went to help him bring in his stuff, and Kennedy followed them. She liked Oz, and wanted to get to know him better. Willow grabbed Oz's duffel bag, the same one he had been hurriedly packing when she first found out that he was leaving, and Buffy, Kennedy, and Oz took his various musical equipment.

When they entered the lobby, Angel walked over. "Would you like a room on the first floor, with the Slayers plus Willow, or on the second floor with the rest of us?"

"I'll go for second floor. Sounds safer."

"Are you implying that Slayers are dangerous?" Kennedy was looking at him questioningly.

"No, thirty fifteen to twenty-two year old girls are dangerous."

So Oz moved into room 213 of the Hyperion Hotel, headquarters to Angel Investigations and the Slayer training school. After much discussion, it was decided that he would teach the young Slayers to get in touch with their power. He would teach them how to communicate with their power and how to use it to their best advantage.

When everyone had left him to settle in, he sighed. What was he getting into? Was it really wise to be living so close to Willow, who was clearly dating someone else, when he wasn't even really sure if he could control the wolf?

Once he had put his clothes away, and set up his guitars, he sat down to meditate. He sat cross legged on the floor, closed his eyes, and sowed his breathing. When he had completely emptied his mind, the wolf stepped forward. He reached out to touch it, and he found that it was calm. He racked his mind to try to think of a time when it had been this calm, and he couldn't remember a time when it hadn't really been restless. He thought about Willow, and how much it hurt to see her with someone else, and to his surprise the wolf spoke. "Don't dwell on it. Don't let the rage control you. When the rage overcomes, I come out, but it is not me who is in control. Whether or not you want to believe it, we all have a surging anger in us. When you controlled the me, forced me down, I became what you see here. Then your anger found me, and it over took me. I resisted, but then it started to over come me. Now, when you have seen Willow with someone else, and not become over come with rage, but rather a sense of happiness for her, I have driven back the rage to the back of your mind. I am now just your emotions magnified, but you will have to make sure that you can keep the anger back. The moment that it rises, I become it, and it multiplies."

The wolf turned and walked away, and Oz opened his eyes in the shock of what had just happened.

**A/N: Please, please review! Just tell me whether or not you like it! Thanks Estelle Tiniwiel and Cliodhna who have already reviewed. This chapter focuses on Oz, but I think that the next chapter will be more Buffy and Angel.**


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